Hydraulic toothbrush

ABSTRACT

An improved toothbrush that has a row of rotatable brush tufts for purpose of more thoroughly brushing the teeth; the brush trufts being made to turn by means of pressurized water from a faucet flowing through the brush handle so to rotate a series of turbine impellers each one of which is attached to one of the brush tufts.

United States Patent 1191 Man-king HYDRAULIC TOOTHBRUSH lnventor: LawMan-king, 339341 Lackhart Rd., 20/F, Wanchai, Hong Kong Filed: Oct. 9,1973 Appl. No.: 404,654

US. Cl. 15/29 1 Int. Cl A46b 13/06 Field of Search 15/22 R, 24, 28, 29;128/56, 62 A References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1971 Oates 128/62A FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 261,422 Austria l5/29 Mar. 11, 19755/1956 France ..15/28 6/1929 Germany ..15/29 Primary ExaminerEdward L.Roberts Attorney, Agent, or FirmNatter & Natter 8 Claims, 5 DrawingFigures HYDRAULIC TOOTHBRUSI-l This invention relates generally totoothbrushes, and more specifically to toothbrushes that arepowerdriven.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide an improvedpower-driven toothbrush that is operated by pressurized water from abathroom sink faucet, so that it does not require any electrical energy.

Another object accordingly is to provide a hydraulic toothbrush whichdoes not require any electrical unit so that it is less costly to apurchaser, is safer by having no electrical wiring connection, and whichhas less components to break down or wear out, so that it will last along time.

Yet another object is to provide a hydraulic tooth brush which utilizesthe flowing water to rinse the teeth during the brushing operation andflush out the mouth at the same time in order to give a more cleanfeeling.

Other objects are to providea hydraulic toothbrush which is simple indesign, inexpensive to manufacture, rugged in construction, easy to use,and efficient in operation.

These and other objects will be readily evident upon a study of thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a power toothbrush constructed inaccordance with and embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the toothbrush illustrating three rotatablymounted brush units which are powered by water flow through thetoothbrush and also showing a water discharge outlet;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG.3; and

FIG. 5 is a view of the hydraulic toothbrush connected to a waterfaucet.

Referring now to thedrawing in detail, the reference numeral representsa hydraulic toothbrush according to the present invention, wherein thereis a handle 11 having a nipple 12 integrally formed therewith, at oneend, for connection to a flexible hose 13 having a conventional adapter14 at an opposite end for remov' able attachment in a water faucet 15. Acentral passage or channel 16 extends through the nipple and handle soto allow pressurized water 17 from the faucet to flow through the handleand to be discharged from a discharge outlet 18 at the end of the handlehead 19.

The head supports a row of freely rotatable brush units 20, each one ofwhich includes bristle brush tufts 21 that protrude from one side of thehead, the tufts being mounted in circular platforms 22 flush with theouter side of the head and each of which is rotatable in a depression23, the platform being integral with central shaft 24 supported inbearings 25 and 26 of the handle, and the shaft having a turbineimpeller 27 formed thereon that is located in passage 16, the passagebeing circularly enlarged at each impeller as shown at 28 so thatimpellers can spin therein.

An important feature of the construction, as shown in FIG. 4, is thatthe configuration of the channel 16 provides a water flow path such thatthe central brush unit spins in a direction that is opposite to theunits adjacent thereto for the reason that if the peripheral brushbristles of one unit contact the peripheral brush bristles of theadjacent head during spinning, they travel in a same direction at thatpoint so that they do not arrest the rotational movement of any of theunits 20.

In operative use, it is now evident that pressure of water movingthrough passage 16 causes the brush units to spin in order to providepower rotation of brush bristles when cleansing teeth. Furthermore,since adjacent bristle platforms 22 rotate in directions opposite toanother a more thorough cleaning of the teeth is made possible. Theclean water discharged from outlet 18 washes the mouth and teeth toflush particulate matter removed during brushing.

Thus it will be seen that there is provided a toothbrush which achievesthe various objects of the invention and which is well suited to meetthe conditions of practical use.

As various changes might be made in the toothbrush as above set forth,it is understood that all matter herein described or shown in theaccompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

1. A power toothbrush comprising a head and a handle, means forming awater flow channel in said head, a plurality of brush units, each brushunit including a platform and bristle tufts, said bristle tufts beingsecured to said platform and projecting from said head, means rotatablymounting each brush unit to said head, impeller means, means fixing theimpeller means to the brush unit for unitary rotation therewith, theimpeller means being positioned in said water flow channel, the headfurther including means in communication with the channel for connectionto a supply of water under pressure and means for discharging water fromthe channel whereby water flow through the channel will impinge uponeach impeller means causing the brush units to rotate, thereby providingmovement of the tooth cleansing bristles.

2. A power toothbrush constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein thecommunication means includes means forming a water flow channel in thebandle continuous with the channel in the head and means interconnectingthe channels with a pressurized water supply, the interconnecting meansincluding means engageable with a water faucet whereby the toothbrush isreadily adapted for convenient lavatory usage.

3. A power toothbrush constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein themeans for discharging water includes means forming an orifice in thehead adapted to direct water flow into the user's mouth whereby oralrinsing during tooth brushing is facilitated.

4. A power toothbrush constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein themeans fixing the impeller means to the brush unit includes a driveshaft, the platform being positioned at one end of the drive shaft andthe impeller means being secured to the drive shaft remote from said oneend.

5. A power toothbrush constructed in accordance with claim 4 wherein themeans rotatably mounting the brush unit includes means journalling thedrive shaft in transverse channel walls.

6. A power toothbrush constructed in accordance with claim 1 furtherincluding means in the head channel for directing water impingement uponadjacent impeller means such that adjacent brush units rotate inopposite directions whereby a more thorough cleansing I seated in adepression.

8. A power toothbrush constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein themeans in communication with the channel includes flexible hose means,one end of said hose means being engageable with a water faucet wherebythe toothbrush is readily adapted for convenient lavatory usage.

1. A power toothbrush comprising a head and a handle, means forming awater flow channel in said head, a plurality of brush units, each brushunit including a platform and bristle tufts, said bristle tufts beingsecured to said platform and projecting from said head, means rotatablymounting each brush unit to said head, impeller means, means fixing theimpeller means to the brush unit for unitary rotation therewith, theimpeller means being positioned in said water flow channel, the headfurther including means in communication with the channel for connectionto a supply of water under pressure and means for discharging water fromthe channel whereby water flow through the channel will impinge uponeach impeller means causing the brush units to rotate, thereby providingmovement of the tooth cleansing bristles.
 1. A power toothbrushcomprising a head and a handle, means forming a water flow channel insaid head, a plurality of brush units, each brush unit including aplatform and bristle tufts, said bristle tufts being secured to saidplatform and projecting from said head, means rotatably mounting eachbrush unit to said head, impeller means, means fixing the impeller meansto the brush unit for unitary rotation therewith, the impeller meansbeing positioned in said water flow channel, the head further includingmeans in communication with the channel for connection to a supply ofwater under pressure and means for discharging water from the channelwhereby water flow through the channel will impinge upon each impellermeans causing the brush units to rotate, thereby providing movement ofthe tooth cleansing bristles.
 2. A power toothbrush constructed inaccordance with claim 1 wherein the communication means includes meansforming a water flow channel in the handle continuous with the channelin the head and means interconnecting the channels with a pressurizedwater supply, the interconnecting means including means engageable witha water faucet whereby the toothbrush is readily adapted for convenientlavatory usage.
 3. A power toothbrush constructed in accordance withclaim 1 wherein the means for discharging water includes means formingan orifice in the head adapted to direct water flow into the user''smouth whereby oral rinsing during tooth brushing is facilitated.
 4. Apower toothbrush constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein themeans fixing the impeller means to the brush unit includes a driveshaft, the platform being positioned at one end of the drive shaft andthe impeller means being secured to the drive shaft remote from said oneend.
 5. A power toothbrush constructed in accordance with claim 4wherein the means rotatably mounting the brush unit includes meansjournalling the drive shaft in transverse channel walls.
 6. A powertoothbrush constructed in accordance with claim 1 further includingmeans in the head channel for directing water impingement upon adjacentimpeller means such that adjacent brush units rotate in oppositedirections whereby a more thorough cleansing is achieved during brushingand adjacent brush units will not interfere during rotation.
 7. A powertoothbrush constructed in accordance with claim 1 further includingmeans forming depressions in the head, the platform of each brush unitbeing seated in a depression.